A few observations have occurred to me recently. While my mind is in a jumble, here's an attempt to make some sense out of it.
I have always been taught that self awareness is an important element of life. It opens doors to greater understanding and happiness. It had always been at the back of my mind but like I mentioned before- learning, understanding and integrating are completely different matters. You can know one thing and think you know it until you finally understand it years later and then realise what it really means to you yet again, years later.
It is during your challenges that you discover who you are. In the wake of the terrible mess on the markets and the fiasco with the Lehman issue, disheartenment has weighed heavily on many advisors' heart, including my own. It is at this point that I realise, that perhaps this business does not suit me. I am not mercenary enough for my own good, especially my wallet's. I've even questioned if I actually suit the modern world. A friend of mine commented that she felt I should be somewhere that allows me to help people more and in a more direct manner.
It is also at this point that I realise the little changes that have grown into huge differences in me over the last few years. While the sense of materialism still exists, it has become more and more apparent to me that I am now valuing other things with far greater significance. It isn't that money isn't important. It's just that the realisation of what money means is greater. Gone are the days where I would want to have millions but not be able to answer how many. I can answer now but the truth is, the importance of it is no longer as gripping. Have I settled? Actually no. I don't necessarily feel compromised. Instead, I feel a greater sense of awareness of who I might have been born to truly become. I have learnt to let go of things more and in return, find greater peace.
It is this sense of awareness that led me to appreciate the significance of self-awareness. The other day, a thought occurred to me suddenly. It has never crossed my mind but somehow it did that day. I realised the number one thing I would like to be in my life and also the number two thing that I would like to do alongside number one. When I thought about it, I realised they fitted me more in terms of love, passion, personality, beliefs and direction. It was like I finally had an idea of how the ideal design of my life would be. The discovery of this design has brought a new sense of calm and purpose amidst the current storms brewing around me.
Any self respecting believer of self-improvement would have probably been asked to draw up a picture or design of one's ideal life at some point. It has occurred to me that when most people were asked to do it, they were frankly clueless. I was clueless. Hence, we often took the easy way out and almost haphazardly wrote whatever came to mind in the form of what we felt and thought we wanted.
Most of the time, there is some truth to the things that we write because it is a reflection of one's desires in life after all. However, it is now years later that I began to truly appreciate the meaning behind the effort that the self-improvement gurus have gone into asking one to consider one's belief and value system before writing that down. I can say with some degree of confidence that most people did not really think it over as much as they thought they did.
I say so because I am looking at the design in my head now and comparing it to the design I had then. I can happily say that I am far more pleased and aligned with this design that the one I had then. The difference is that this is the one that I drew up, according to my beliefs, what I want to do, can do and feel that I was meant to do. It has far more significance and meaning that what others have influenced me to believe that I need. For that, I feel a lot happier, at ease and most importantly, aligned with myself.
If you had a free hand, what would the design of your ideal life be like?
I have always been taught that self awareness is an important element of life. It opens doors to greater understanding and happiness. It had always been at the back of my mind but like I mentioned before- learning, understanding and integrating are completely different matters. You can know one thing and think you know it until you finally understand it years later and then realise what it really means to you yet again, years later.
It is during your challenges that you discover who you are. In the wake of the terrible mess on the markets and the fiasco with the Lehman issue, disheartenment has weighed heavily on many advisors' heart, including my own. It is at this point that I realise, that perhaps this business does not suit me. I am not mercenary enough for my own good, especially my wallet's. I've even questioned if I actually suit the modern world. A friend of mine commented that she felt I should be somewhere that allows me to help people more and in a more direct manner.
It is also at this point that I realise the little changes that have grown into huge differences in me over the last few years. While the sense of materialism still exists, it has become more and more apparent to me that I am now valuing other things with far greater significance. It isn't that money isn't important. It's just that the realisation of what money means is greater. Gone are the days where I would want to have millions but not be able to answer how many. I can answer now but the truth is, the importance of it is no longer as gripping. Have I settled? Actually no. I don't necessarily feel compromised. Instead, I feel a greater sense of awareness of who I might have been born to truly become. I have learnt to let go of things more and in return, find greater peace.
It is this sense of awareness that led me to appreciate the significance of self-awareness. The other day, a thought occurred to me suddenly. It has never crossed my mind but somehow it did that day. I realised the number one thing I would like to be in my life and also the number two thing that I would like to do alongside number one. When I thought about it, I realised they fitted me more in terms of love, passion, personality, beliefs and direction. It was like I finally had an idea of how the ideal design of my life would be. The discovery of this design has brought a new sense of calm and purpose amidst the current storms brewing around me.
Any self respecting believer of self-improvement would have probably been asked to draw up a picture or design of one's ideal life at some point. It has occurred to me that when most people were asked to do it, they were frankly clueless. I was clueless. Hence, we often took the easy way out and almost haphazardly wrote whatever came to mind in the form of what we felt and thought we wanted.
Most of the time, there is some truth to the things that we write because it is a reflection of one's desires in life after all. However, it is now years later that I began to truly appreciate the meaning behind the effort that the self-improvement gurus have gone into asking one to consider one's belief and value system before writing that down. I can say with some degree of confidence that most people did not really think it over as much as they thought they did.
I say so because I am looking at the design in my head now and comparing it to the design I had then. I can happily say that I am far more pleased and aligned with this design that the one I had then. The difference is that this is the one that I drew up, according to my beliefs, what I want to do, can do and feel that I was meant to do. It has far more significance and meaning that what others have influenced me to believe that I need. For that, I feel a lot happier, at ease and most importantly, aligned with myself.
If you had a free hand, what would the design of your ideal life be like?
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